Lilacs have special meaning for Holocaust survivor Helen Sperling.
It was 1940 when a German commandant who had
occupied her family's home in Otwock, Poland, ordered the lilacs
removed from her father's gardens and sent to Germany.
“That was the first time I saw my father cry,” recalls Sperling, 82,
a resident of New Hartford, who for the past 20 years has been a
guest lecturer in Prof. Stephen Berk's Holocaust class.
On Friday, May 24, at noon, in the College's Jackson's
Garden about 200 students from Berk's class will plant lilacs in honor
of Sperling and her family.
“Every time they bloom, my father looks down and smiles,”
said Sperling of her love for the spring flowers.
“This will be a fitting tribute to Helen Sperling,” said Prof.
Berk. “For years, she has made an immense contribution to
our students and their understanding of the Holocaust.”
Sperling, a frequent speaker at schools and colleges, lost
31 relatives in the Holocaust. She and a brother were the only
survivors from her immediate family.
But Sperling doesn't like to dwell on her own experience:
“What I try to emphasize is that students should learn a lesson not to
forget. It shouldn't happen again.”